I hummed slightly and off tune, thoughts still a jumble, as I picked my way over piles of books and notes to the door, shutting it quietly behind me before taking the steps two at a time to meet Rohak and a small council of chosen Mages and Vessels in what was Alois’ study.
I suppose it’s Rohak’s now.
The halls of the manor were oddly silent, the normal hustle of quiet feet as servants flitted from one task to the next suspiciously absent. Though that emptiness was quickly explained as I rounded the corner, the entrance to the study in sight. There, with ears pressed to the doors and walls, hands pushed on bent backs so each could claim an area to eavesdrop, were at least a dozen servants and butlers.
I didn’t try to mask the sound of my boots on the stone as I approached the crowded door, my ire growing as none turned to the sound. Drawing to a stop, I loudly cleared my throat, hands clenched in fists behind my back.
The servants gasped, falling over themselves in an attempt to curtsey.
My eyebrows rose as they muttered “Rune Master” with reddened faces.
“What were you doing?” I asked, cool frustration bleeding through.
“We were . . . uh,” one of the younger maids stammered, her doe-brown eyes shifting nervously as she failed to meet my gaze.
“We heard the General was awake and Bonded to you. We know he’s in there and wanted to hear it from him,” a younger boy blurted. His golden hair was disheveled, and he sported dark blue spots under his grey eyes. He wore the Mage blacks of the Academy, but with no patch to denote an Affinity or Affiliation.
A cadet. Probably one of the ones that survived the battle by locking themselves in one of the empty classrooms in the Academy.
Instantly, my ire softened, the rage diminishing as I took in their eager eyes and hopeful expressions. These peoplelovedRohak; it was written as plain as the runes tattooed on my body. He cared for them both as a General and a master of this house, and they wanted to know of his health.
The corner of my mouth quirked slightly as my shoulders relaxed. In one swift motion, I swung my arm in front of my body and pulled my sleeve up, revealing the iridescent mark.
The crowd gasped, both the young and the old murmuring with wide eyes about the incredible nature of it all.
Silently, I agreed with them.
“May I touch it?” the boy asked hesitantly, and I invited him to do so, other calloused fingers joining with his as they traced the lines of the mark that Bonded me to their beloved General. Slowly, they backed away, each offering a slight bow or curtsey before returning to their duties within the manor. Two of the cadets remained to stand guard outside the study, even though it was clear their vigilance wasn’t needed.
“Thank you, Rune Master,” the elderly head maid, Bria, said quietly, her plump, withered hands clutching my arm as tears beaded in her eyes. “He is . . . special to us.”
I smiled warmly, emotion welling in my own orbs. With one last squeeze, she waddled back down the hall, barking at servants as she went.
My mouth quirked in a small smile as I rolled my tunic sleeve down, concealing the mark once more. With a nod of respect in my direction, the cadets knocked in tandem on the study’s door, the wood double panels opening a moment later with a softclick.
With a deep, fortifying breath, I pushed the doors open. Immediately, the conversation halted, familiar faces turning to look as I entered.
Rohak sat in what used to be Alois’ wingback chair, closest to the fireplace. His posture held tension even as he tried to appear relaxed. One fist propped his head while the other hand clutched a half-full glass of amber liquid. His eyes were an emerald storm of emotions, none lingering long enough to detect. While I couldpeer through the Bond and parse through his thoughts. I had no desire to overstep and infringe on his privacy.
Instead, I moved farther into the room, casually picking up an empty glass and filling it with a finger of whiskey from the open decanter as I observed the other people in the room. Sol sat in the chair nearest Rohak next to the cold hearth, the ashes from the last fire still coating the stone bottom. Her Vessel, Thandi, loomed over the back of the chair like a dark sentinel, his large hand resting possessively on her shoulder, as if he couldn’t be far from her.
In the two remaining chairs sat Ben—with Asha curled on his lap—and a greying Mage I’d never seen before. My eyebrows slanted slightly as I slowly sipped the liquid, letting it roll around my tongue before burning my throat as I swallowed, my eyes trained on the unknown man the entire time. His face was open and round, laugh lines creasing along his mouth and crinkling at the edges of his light-brown eyes as a smile broke across his face at my scrutiny.
“Felix. Pleasure Mage. He shared a room with Torin at the Academy,”Rohak’s voice, smooth as honey, whispered through my mind as he noticed my staring.
“I don’t think we’ve met before,” I said, offering my hand to Felix while clutching my drink in the other.
His smile grew impossibly wider as he grasped my hand with his own. Felix’s grip was firm, but his voice was soft. “Rune Master. I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
I hummed softly as I dropped his hand.
“Do you have a thing for Pleasure Mages that I don’t know about?”I teased down the Bond, a ripple of satisfaction coursing through me as Rohak’s dour expression brightened slightly.
“You’ll want to install some Air Wards, General,” I said aloud. “I caught a few of the manor staff and younger cadets with their ears pressed to the walls and doors on my way in.”
A spattering of laughter echoed through the room from the Mages as the tips of Rohak’s ears burned red.
“Yes, they seemed rather enamored with the possibility of their General Bonding the enigmatic Rune Master,” Sol’s musical voice carried both a note of annoyance and one of humor. She made eye contact with Thandi, something silent passing between them. I felt a slight pressure in my inner ear as Air Wards slid into place. “There. We are now covered from prying ears.” Sol turned her owlish gaze to me, dark brown eyes assessing me critically. “And I think we would all like to know what happened after the death of the king. What did you do with the General? Where did you take him? What happened?”
